A tiny Nissan Micra has been driven all the way from Troon to Tbilisi as two Ayrshire cousins conquered the Mongol Rally.
The humble motor named Monte had heads turning in glitzy Monte Carlo as it stood out among the Ferraris, Bugattis and super yachts in the playground of the rich and famous.
Chris Johnston-Marr, 28, from Ayr and Marc Tracey, 30, from Troon completed a whopping 10,423 miles on their epic journey, covering 20 countries in 28 days.
However, the key number of their Euro trek is the almost £5,000 raised for two charities.
The pair's long-haul drive coined it in for the motor neurone disease charity MyName'5 Doddie Foundation – in memory of their gran.
Under the team name ‘Yes We Khan’ they also raised £768.75 for Climate Change charity Cool Earth – the main sponsors of the rally.
Marc told Ayrshire Live: “We got more attention than the Lamborghinis and the Ferraris in Monte Carlo.
“People stopped and took photos of us, you get car enthusiasts down there who take pictures of all the super cars then there is a wee Nissan Micra that probably cost £600.”
Monte also posed for snaps at Cappadocia, Turkey – a world famous hot air balloon beauty spot on the trip that saw them blaze a trail from the start point in Prague in the Czech Republic to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Along the way, the pair ticked off 12 ‘poles of inconvenience’ – an incredibly tough set of GPS markers dotted across the world.
Marc said: “All these routes are not tarmac, they are off road, it was very hard work.
“Normally a 4x4 is advised on these roads. We done it in a 998cc Nissan Micra. What we managed to achieve is a great advert for Nissans.
“The drives were intense. When we left Georgia, we drove for 31 hours straight to Bulgaria and had to take shifts."
On the way they passed some of the ‘hidden gems’ of Europe with Marc lauding the beauty of lesser-known places such as Montenegro and Albania.
However, the roads were not for the faint hearted.
Marc said: “We saw some crazy things at times. We saw drivers reversing up the equivalent of the M77 because they’ve missed their junction. We saw tractors flying down the motorway with no lights on; and cows on the middle of the road, it was just surreal.”
Chris and Marc earned some praise from rally organisers after helping an Albanian tractor driver who had two flat tyres.
Marc said: “We noticed he had two flat tyres and we signalled to him if he needed help, we had an electric pump, 10 minutes later he was on his way.
“That is what the rally is all about, helping people and if you get lost, asking people for help.”
Among the stunning routes was the Transfagarasan highway in Romania – a 90km stretch of road across mountains home to hundreds of wild bears.
Marc said: “We saw seven bears in four hours. It was amazing. We even had a text from the Romanian Government to warn us not to have our windows down or approach any bears.”
Their epic journey has seen donations pour into the two charities, with the duo lauding the incredible support shown to both causes.
He added: “Yeah, we got to go and do this cool thing but it was raising money for two things that mean a lot to us.
“That is what matters most.”
You can still donate to Chris and Marc’s fundraiser here.
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